To think Justin Welby Archbishop of Canterbury must resign/be charged TW CSA.

[MrsRobinsonsHandprints]

Justin Welby knew in 2013 about a prolific child abuser.

He did nothing

"I personally failed to ensure that after disclosure in 2013 the awful tragedy was energetically investigated."

He is not resigning, he should be bloody charged with aiding and abetting. The abuser was allowed to move to Africa and continue to abuse.

This is the Archbishop of Canterbury.

https://news.sky.com/story/archbishop-of-canterbury-justin-welby-considered-resigning-over-appalling-barrister-abuse-scandal-13250363

Charles has form himself for supporting paedophiles

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/14/friendship-with-prince-charles-made-paedophile-bishop-peter-ball-impregnable

Prince Charles told Ball in a letter in February 1995, two years after the bishop had accepted the police caution, which was read to the inquiry: “I wish I could do more. I feel so desperately strongly about the monstrous wrongs that have been done to you and the way you have been treated.”

Wasn't Charlie's beloved Lord Mountbatten a suspected paedophile. With that and his adoration for Savile, I doubt he can see the wood for the trees.

Yes but we were told years ago that thorough investigations had been made and a robust safeguarding system put in place that was apparently a model for safeguarding globally.

These latest revelations rather undermine the credibility of those apparent efforts. Exactly the same situation in the Catholic Church,

JW has to go.

Charles was also friends with Laurens van der Post

I have knowledge of this man and this news doesn't surprise me. He is not a man of God and isn't fit to lead the Church of England

Here’s a link to the petition on change.org started by three members of the General Synod, calling for Welby to resign. Please sign.

https://chng.it/jL5vkYRmt9

@username7891

The report is at the link below. The 2013 chronology begins on 174.

https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2024-11/independent-learning-lessons-review-john-smyth-qc-november-2024.pdf

Clearly you’re right that they reported it in the wrong way. Welby should have investigated the initial report to the police. He would have discovered that an individual liaison officer in Cambridgeshire Police had been told, rather than a formal report being made to the Met or Hampshire Police. He seems to have taken it on trust that the police had been informed formally, whereas actually the report was informal. He was told of “the importance of not contacting anyone given police are involved” (Makin Report p.174). As you say, this was wrong. One police officer had been told, and apparently did very little. In 2014 Cambs police decided not to conduct a full investigation, and communicated this decision to the church (p.176).

The chronology in the report contains several instances of contact between the church and the police on this from 2013 onwards.

In 2014 a Serious Incident Report was also filed with the Charity Commission. They did nothing.

Also in 2014 a senior officer in Thames Valley Police was sent a copy of the internal church report on the issue (the Ruston Report) by a Church safeguarding official. TVP apparently did nothing (page 194).

On page 194 the report states that “a total of five police forces were told of the abuse between 2013 and the end of 2016.”

The church officials involved seem to have been under the impression that the police were investigating. In reality the police were doing very little, possibly because they had been given the information informally in various ways, rather than formally in a written referral, or possibly because of their own failures, or both.

This is a report commissioned by the Church of England into their own actions. It was not the author’s job to criticise other parties, such as the police or the Charity Commission. But they were all told, repeatedly, albeit imperfectly, and until 2017 they did little or nothing. It’s inevitable that the media will focus on Welby, because the report makes no comment on the actions of the other organisations beyond noting the facts. But it’s pretty clear that the Church was not the only organisation to fail here.

He shouldn’t have the chance to resign, he should be sacked and he should be charged with enabling CSA

@Greenbike

Thank you for such a detailed response. The police yet again, seem to have failed abused children. And in a wider context, all authorities involved have failed the vulnerable.

@username7891

Agreed.

Thanks, saved me a google there!

It’s pretty clear that the Church was not the only organisation to fail here

This is true, @Greenbike, though in fairness the police's job will hardly have been made any easier by the church leaders' long and depressing hsitory of covering up and deflecting wherever possible

It's also true however that police don't try to claim the same kind of moral authority as the church, neither do they enjoy the same privileges on the back of clamiing it

www.thetimes.com/article/5cedf6f1-94f0-4e55-a428-2c3d270a93a8?shareToken=776a1c72ea4a898a83bfdf7219185ee0

The bishop of Newcastle is calling for Welby's resignation, but it reads to me like she's mostly interested in damage limitation for the church.

The church has surely already lost all credibility as a 'moral voice'.

I'd say this is strained yes

Why is it that these wokesters who lecture the public most about social justice have the most rotten skeletons in their closet? This guy has been going on non stop about slavery reparations and immigration plans being evil and nazi like.

Yes in the HoL too. He's lost that ability and undermines anyone else from talking from religious pov

Strikes me that it’s only pedophiles that don’t find pedophilia repugnant and unbearable. Any decent man would take immediate action to stamp it out and bring these monsters to justice. Surely. I can think of no other reason to tolerate it.

Makes one wonder how he got the job in the first place. Check his hard drives.

2013 is 11 years ago. He knew it should be reported and he did nothing.

If it was normalised it was because people like Welby turned a blind eye.

The rest is whataboutery. I would charge every single one. I certainly would justify not charging Welby because it was normalised.

If the depravity is that bad the whole organisation should be disbanded. I am sick to my stomach.

You’ve got your facts wrong. It was reported to the police by the church in 2013. And 2014. And also to the Charity Commission. Welby was told it had been reported, believed there was a police investigation, and deliberately kept his distance so as not to prejudice that investigation. In reality the report was made through the wrong police channels and the police failed to realise the seriousness and escalate internally, and the church was not active enough pressing the matter with them. But Welby was under the impression that it had been properly referred to the police, and acted accordingly.

Mr Welby "could and should" have formally reported the abuse to authorities in 2013, the review said.

It found that "had that been done, on the balance of probabilities" Smyth could have been brought to justice "at a much earlier point" than a Hampshire Police investigation in early 2017.

The report found that Smyth was able to move to Africa from England while "church officers knew of the abuse and failed to take the steps necessary to prevent further abuse occurring".

And then in HIS OWN WORDS

"Nevertheless the review is clear that I personally failed to ensure that after disclosure in 2013 the awful tragedy was energetically investigated."

I have no idea @Greenbike why you wish to defend that.

I have a huge issue with this too OP. It is only sheer arrogance that is keeping him in post. He is a disgrace.

On R4 now

I don't think Welby is defensible. Even if he genuinely suspected nothing before 2013 (doubtful IMHO) that was the period when Savile's crimes had to light, child abuse by those in powerful positions was being widely discussed, possibly more so than ever before.

He is an intelligent, highly educated man who had a responsibility to ensure that this was properly investigated by the police. Instead, he has behaved like the worst sort of sleek, sophisticated churchman of old, more interested in his own career and comfort than following the teachings of Christ or in fact any kind of morality. This is amplified by his refusal to go now, even though that stance insults the victims and further damages the Church he is meant to serve.

He's gone

I just feel contempt about him.

His own moral compass wasn't enough to guide him to doing the right thing. His resignation is a technicalitie, he ultimately has been pushed.